With primary election early voting beginning Saturday, Aug. 10, a number of candidates seeking state and local offices in the western communities squared off recently in a forum sponsored by Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter.
Some 50 attendees gathered at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center on Thursday, July 25 to hear from candidates for State House in districts 93 and 94, as well as seats 2 and 4 on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors.
Early voting continues through Sunday, Aug. 18 at convenient locations across the county. All polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 20, which is the day of the election. Vote-by-mail ballots must be received back to the Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Aug. 20. Learn more at www.votepalmbeach.gov.
Baxter, who lives in The Acreage, said she initiated the forum because “it’s so important for us to make informed decisions when we’re going into the voting booth or filling out a ballot and mailing it in.”
She told attendees at the July 25 event that it is “absolutely imperative” that voters properly research candidates “to see what they stand for because they will be making policies that affect our lives.”
Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller Joseph Abruzzo served as moderator and asked each candidate a series of prepared questions and several supplied by the audience. Candidates also were given time to sum up their reasons for seeking elected office.
Four of the six candidates for ITID Seat 2 attended — Lou Colantuoni Jr., who owns a boatyard and dealership in Jupiter; incumbent Supervisor Keith Jordano, who owns an insurance agency; John Rivera, owner of Sunshine Safe & Lock; and Richard Vassalotti II, a retired captain with Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue.
Candidates Kirk Ljongquist, who owns a construction business, and Stian Oksavik, who works for a telecom company, did not attend.
All the Seat 2 candidates in attendance agreed that they would strive to develop greater unity in the community and that increased traffic on ITID roads is a major issue. They mostly blamed the area’s traffic woes on development pressure from the nearby Avenir and Westlake developments, and the failure of the state to complete the State Road 7 extension from 60th Street North to Northlake Blvd. That project has been delayed by legal wrangling for years.
They also focused on preserving ITID’s semi-rural lifestyle and expressed concerns that the unincorporated area may be annexed piece by piece by surrounding municipalities.
“This community is under exceptional pressure right now, and that is what I’m here to fight against,” Colantuoni said. “To protect the community from the pressure from outside developers and neighboring municipalities.”
Jordano said that his four years of experience on the board have positioned him well to help maintain the community’s equestrian ethos and continue its progress. “I want to see more inclusivity,” he said. “Improved communication is the answer to all our evils.”
Rivera said he wanted to make sure that his daughters and grandchildren are able to enjoy the lifestyle that he has had over several decades. “I’d like to bring the community back together,” he said.
“I’m committed to protecting The Acreage, to protecting our residents,” Vassalotti said. “During my 15 years in fire-rescue [in The Acreage], I would have died for you. That’s who I am.”
The evening’s only fireworks came when an audience question seemed aimed directly at the employer-employee relationship between Colantuoni and Seat 4 incumbent Supervisor Betty Argue, who is running for a third term. Argue has been employed as an administrator in the service department of one of his businesses for the last three years, Colantuoni said.
“That is a conflict of interest… It is unethical and shouldn’t be happening,” said Vassalotti, and Rivera agreed.
Colantuoni said that he checked with an attorney and was told that there was nothing illegal about it.
“It might be legal, but I don’t know if it’s really ethical,” said Jordano, adding that it could open the door for violations of Florida’s strict Sunshine Law, which forbids elected officials from discussing government business outside of public meetings.
Argue, who did not attend the forum, said later that if she and Colantuoni served on the board together, there would be no Sunshine Law issues and no attempts to pressure her to vote a certain way.
“That’s not going to happen,” she said. “That’s not who Lou is, and it’s not who I am. Our relationship outside of ITID is separate.”
Trucker advocate and local businesswoman Natalia Melian Torres is taking on Argue in Seat 4. This is her first run for office.
“I believe my background in business will help me a lot, as I’m not a politician,” Melian said at the forum. “There’s a lot of room for improvement [on the board]. The biggest thing for me is to listen to the residents.”
In House District 94, which includes the Acreage/Loxahatchee area, Loxahatchee Groves, Westlake, parts of Royal Palm Beach, parts of Palm Beach Gardens and all of western Palm Beach County including the Glades, four Republicans and one Democrat are seeking the seat being vacated by State Rep. Rick Roth, a Republican, due to term limits.
Former Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Rachel Litt is the only Democrat in the race and thus automatically advanced to the November election. She did not attend the forum, nor did Palm Beach Gardens resident Meg Weinberger, who has received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
The candidates who attended were nuclear engineer and Palm Beach State College adjunct professor Christian Acosta; Anthony Aguirre, who manages inpatient hospitalist medicine for high-risk organizations; and Gabrielle Fox, a small business owner and self-described “constitutionalist grassroots fighter.”
Roth has endorsed Acosta.
“I’ve been learning from my friend, Representative Roth,” said Acosta, who grew up in the county. “Local government matters. Good leadership matters. The right decisions really help people. This is the best way I can give back.”
Aguirre, a Wellington High School graduate, said he believes in treating the state finances “not as a handout but as a business, so that we can get things done quickly, on time and on budget… We need more business-minded people in government.”
Fox, an Illinois native who has lived in Florida for 20 years, said her emphasis would be on “state and county budgets to make sure longtime residents can continue to live here and not be taxed into oblivion.”
She added that “a lot of our problems are caused by career politicians” and pledged to donate her State House salary to her church and “other pro-family organizations.”
In House District 93, the candidates are incumbent State Rep. Katherine Waldron, a Democrat who is completing her first term, and Republican Anne Gerwig, who recently stepped down as Wellington mayor due to term limits.
There is no primary in the race, so it will be decided at the general election in November. However, both candidates took part in the forum.
District 93 includes all of Wellington and western portions of Greenacres and Lake Worth.
Waldron said the three most important issues to voters in this election are homeowners’ and auto insurance, the need for “smart development,” and women’s healthcare — calling Florida’s recently implemented six-week abortion limit “essentially an all-out ban.”
“I’m not a fan of culture-war bills,” she said. “We need to focus on more important things.”
Gerwig said that “the day-to-day operations [in Tallahassee] seem disconnected to our community.”
She agreed that the state’s insurance affordability crisis is the No. 1 issue on the minds of voters and pledged that she would not engage in negative campaigning.
“I never have,” she said. “There’s no need to be anything but kind to someone who puts themselves out to run for office.”
The entire forum can be viewed on Baxter’s District 6 page at https://discover.pbcgov.org.
